Writing on the Wall
by Catachresism
Summary: A series of one-shots with different characters for a challenge. The title may change as I'm not very fond of it.
1. In Between Worlds

**So, this first appeared on my main profile, but I've since decided to move it over here, since it isn't really the same quality or type as Alexic's other stories. I'll have the second chapter up soon, but I don't know how long it will be until the third, since I haven't written that one yet.**

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><p><strong>This is for the 120-Phrases Challenge. Each chapter will be a one-shot based off the next phrase or word on the list, and the prompt will be the chapter title. I probably won't be using the same characters for every one, so I'm not really sure who I should have put for the main character.<strong>

**Also, before I forget, I need to thank cflat for helping me come up with Dean's sibling's names, even though [he/she/it] didn't remember posting that [he/she/it] would love to see a story that tells us more about Dean's family.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this instead.**

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><p><strong>In Between Worlds<strong>

It was Christmas eve of his first year, the first time he had come home since starting at Hogwarts, and Dean felt awkward and out of place. Both of his parents were gone because his father still had work today and his mother was spending the day shopping for last minute presents.

Of course, he had several younger siblings, both sisters and brothers, but they weren't old enough to hang out with or talk to. His youngest sibling, Mary, wasn't even old enough to play with Barbies, like Christina was – and even she certainly wasn't old enough to appreciate nine-year-old Joseph's sarcastic comments on Barbie being popular and Mom still having to pay for her friends.

That one had made Dean chuckle, though.

And then there was Aiden, Christina's twin brother. He was always getting together with her and trying to egg Dean on to show them magic. In fact, just as he was sitting on the living room couch morosely mulling it over, Aiden walked up to him with Christina in tow. "Mommy says you're a wizard, like Gandalf. Show us some fireworks!" Aiden demanded seriously, for all the world as if he firmly believed his brother would comply.

Dean sighed. "I'm not exactly like Gandalf, and I've already told you that I can't do magic outside of school."

"You're lying, aren't you!" Aiden protested angrily. Christina looked like she was about to cry, "You _and_ mom? It's like Santa Claus all over again! I HATE you!" Then she stormed off to her room, Aiden watching her go silently and almost mournfully.

When Dean tried to scold Aiden for it, his younger brother just turned on him. "It's your fault for lying about fireworks and fighting Balrogs and stuff!" He stormed off angrily into the kitchen to get a snack, and Dean sighed, the protest that he'd never said anything remotely like that dying on his lips.

With another long sigh, Dean stood up from his place at the couch, with his potions essay on his lap, and went up the stair to his room to finish it. He paused for a moment by the room to Christina and Mary's door, but when he didn't hear any sobbing he simply shook his head and moved on.

He didn't come out to face anyone until his parents returned home and called him down for dinner. The meal started out quiet until Dean's Mum noticed that Christina wasn't eating any of her food. "Christy, what's wrong?"

Christina just muttered down at her plate, "Were you and Dean lying about him being a wizard?"

For a moment, his Mum looked like she was going to laugh, but then it passed. "No, we wouldn't–"

"But you lied about Santa Clause!" she accused, finally looking up at them. "Promise you aren't lying!"

"Wait," Lisa interrupted quietly, and everyone turned to look at her with dread. "What about Santa?"

"Nothing!" Dean, his mum, and his dad all said at the exact same time. There was silence for another minute around the table, and then Dean met his Mum's eyes and shrugged awkwardly. "I promise we aren't lying. Besides, where else do you think he could have been gone during the year?"

"He could have gone to boring school." She said quietly. There was a pause as everyone around the table tried to figure out what she meant. Finally, Joseph suggested quietly, "Boarding school?" Christina just shrugged and played half-heartedly with her food.

"Dean," Dean's dad suddenly put in. "Why don't you just show them some magic to prove it. Not anything big, just like..."

Dean cut across him before he could come up with an example. "I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school, not until I've come of age. If I do, they can expel me."

There was a moment of silence, and everyone but Dean, his father, and Christina suddenly dove back into their food to avoid it. Dean sighed and quickly finished his food before anyone else, and asked quietly to be excused to work on his Potions essay. Dean's mum looked like she was going to protest something about him doing homework on Christmas Eve, but his father nodded and Dean stood up to wash his dishes before she had the chance.

Once he was in his room, he didn't start back on his potions essay, he just laid back on his bed and started thinking. His siblings weren't always this obnoxious, and it wasn't that he didn't love them and his parents, because he did. But he felt like he was being pushed back and forth between two worlds, and he wasn't sure which one he was supposed to feel that he belonged in.

**...**

Dean must have fallen asleep there, in his clothes, without realizing it, because the knew was someone tugging softly put persistantly on his shirt. For a few seconds, Dean pretended to still be asleep, but when it didn't go away, he opened his eyes and rolled over. It was Mary. She was standing by his bed, her face lit up and her eyes gleeful, and his other three siblings were standing at the door, looking equally eager.

They were all wearing new pyjamas, and Joseph threw a pair at him. "Mom and Dad didn't want do give the first presents on Christmas Eve when you weren't there, but we said we'd take it up to you."

"But you didn't?" Dean asked with a frown, feeling even further from his siblings than he had yesterday.

"We did," Joseph shrugged apologetically. "But you didn't wake up."

"You just kept snoring!" Mary piped up with a grin.

Dean shook his head and grinned back at her. "Give me a minute guys, I'll change into my pyjamas."

They left the room, all laughing or giggling quietly. When Dean joined them back in the hallway, they crept quietly past their parents' room as a group, and down into the living room. Once they were there, they all turned to him, and he grinned again; going back to the old rituals suddenly made him feel at home in a way he hadn't since he'd returned. "Alright," he said in a quiet whisper. "Who woke up first?"

Aiden raised his hand proudly. "And then Christina, and then Mary."

"And we all had to wake you up," Joseph pointed out as he shifted from foot to foot eagerly.

Dean nodded solemnly. "All right, Aiden. Get your stocking. Let's see what you got." They went in order of who had woken up, each retrieving their stocking and pulling out the items one by one.

Once everyone had their stockings and was admiring the contents, Dean turned to Mary and whispered quietly, "Was I really snoring?"

She pursed her lips and then shook her head. "No. But you really wouldn't wake up."

"Well, then why did you say I was snoring?" Dean teased her gently as Christina and Aiden compared their stockings.

"Because Joseph said I should. He said that teasing you would make you feel more comfortable." Dean shifted awkwardly.

"What?"

"I don't know. It doesn't make sense to me. But he said that I could share some of the stuff in his stocking if I did, so..." She shrugged as if she didn't really understand it but it didn't really matter.

Dean looked over and found Joseph watching them closely, listening in on their conversation. After a moment's thought, he got up and sat next to his younger brother. "Thanks."

"For what?" Joseph asked innocently, as he slowly put the items back inside his stocking so that they were exactly they way he'd found them. The others were reluctantly copying him.

Dean shook his head and smiled before moving back to pack up his stocking as well. When they were all done, Dean and Joseph put them back over the fireplace exactly where they'd found them, and while they were hanging them back up, Joseph gave him a wink without saying anything.

The five siblings spent the rest of the morning until their parents woke up sitting in a circle and speculating about the presents under the tree. Dean was beginning to feel that maybe, just maybe, it was okay to belong to two worlds at once.

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><p><strong>This isn't anywhere near the best thing I've ever written, but I'm also new to one-shots, so hopefully they'll improve as I go along and find more inspiring prompts. Hopefully the next one will be up relatively soon.<strong>


	2. Love

**This is for the 120-Phrases Challenge. Each chapter will be a one-shot based off the next phrase or word on the list, and the prompt will be the chapter title. I probably won't be using the same characters for every one, so I'm not really sure who I should have put for the main character.**

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><p><strong>Love<strong>

It was Thurday morning, and the school was just settling in for breakfast. Before he'd really started eating, Draco Malfoy's eagle owl swooped down to land gracefully on the table next to his plate, dropping a large package that Draco was certain was full of sweets from his parents. The owl fluffed its feathers almost primly and set off for the owlery.

Draco glanced across to the Gryffindor table, where he could just see Potter surrounded by his classmates. So far, Potter had only recieved one letter, and Draco wasn't one to waste any time before rubbing it in.

He stared moodily at the boy, with no guardians of note alive who cared for him, chatting amiably with his friends. He remembered his father once mentioning Potter's parents in passing, that they were completely insufferable... and apparently, perfect for each other. Draco slowly brought his gaze back to his own house's table, bringing the package of sweets closer to him and opening it with fake hautiness. Potter's parents were dead, but supposedly they had been happy togeather while they were alive.

Draco finished his breakfast quickly without saying anything else to his classmates. He wondered, bitterly, if his own parents had ever been happy togeather. Perhaps before Voldemort had fallen and they had almost lost everything, or perhaps even earlier, before his father had become a Death Eater. Maybe before he'd become obsessed with purging mudbloods, he'd cared a little for his family.

As Draco pushed his unfinished plate forward, he wondered if his parents had ever loved each other. He knew they hadn't married for it, but perhaps at some point... But even more than that, he wondered if they'd ever loved him.

With disgust at himself, his parents, and everyone around him, Draco pushed his unfinished plate forward and stood, leaving Crabbe to grab his box of sweets. Still feeling bitter, he made sure to pass by the Gryffindor table on the way out, intending to point out Harry's lack of correspondance. When he got there however, he saw Longbottom clutching a Remembrall tightly in his hand, the smoke inside glowing a bloody red, and he snatched it out of the boy's hand.

Potter and Weasley both jumped to their feet, and before Malfoy could sneer out any insults, Professor McGonagall was behind him. "What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Scowling and even more bitter than when he'd first stood up from his table, Draco quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table. "Just looking," he said with a forced smirk, and slipped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him. There would be other chances to mock the Gryffindors; after all, focusing on something outside himself always helped him to forget whatever was bothering him.

And he couldn't be the only one with doubts about his parents. After all, Potter had _no one_.

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><p><strong>Once again, I'm a little disappointed with my ability to grasp a character inside a drabble. It worked so much smoother in my head. Maybe this whole challenge just isn't for me. Or maybe by the end of it, I'll have found my voice for these. Anyways, I desperately hope you enjoy reading it more than I enjoy re-reading it.<strong>


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